Big Papa's BBQ closes a Littleton location

Serving barbecue is a world away from high-end fashion retail, but Big Papa's BBQ owner Frank Alfonso compares his decision to close his location at 12652 West Ken Caryl Avenue in Littleton to the decision Saks Fifth Avenue made to close its store in the Cherry Creek mall.

"We're like Saks Fifth Avenue," he says. "They're doing fine, but they had to close an underachieving location."

Alfonso says that he and co-owner Bill Cossoff had been contemplating closing this location, which opened back in 2007 and saw good business for the first two years, for about a year; they finally pulled the plug the first week of January.

"We don't see sales coming back to that area," Alfonso explains. "The handwriting was on the wall and we had to stop the blood-letting, so to speak. We made the tough business decision."

Big Papa's BBQ still has two other stores -- at 6265 East Evans Avenue and 5151 South Federal Boulevard -- and Alfonso says those are doing fine.